Guiness World Record Tournament (Now with movies!)

[Rosti LFC]

Hey Tetris fans! On Saturday, September 13, 2008 if you are near the Toronto area make sure you check out a Guinness World Record Attempt happening at the Personal Computer Museum (http://www.pcmuseum.ca (http://www.pcmuseum.ca/default.htm)) for the 'Most Participants in a Tetris Tournament'. The top player will receive all kinds of cool prizes, but EVERYONE that participates is going to walk away a world record holder. Check it out and for those that are interested, pre-register at http://www.tetristournament.ca (http://www.tetristournament.ca/default.htm).

Seems like one of those Guinness World Records where people are just brainstorming for ideas of records that don't exist, but there is a prize for the winner. Maybe you'd want to check it out c_t, or a few other people in the area?

From what I can tell on the FAQ, they're using 3 different versions of Tetris over the tournament. Single player, then a "special two-player version", and then another multiplayer one.

Isn't going to happen, but I'd love it if the single player one was Ti http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

[caffeine]

Since you're on the subject, Triforce (yes, THE Triforce) recently made a Guinness world record for Tetris DS. Twin Galaxies just released some of the end of the video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyS-njlhNzs) Awesome.

[colour_thief]

I've emailed them for some more details. DeHackEd and I might attend to make things interesting. I'm half expecting to play against soccer moms and 9 year olds. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif

[jujube]

if i was a referee and someone asked me to watch 15 hours of TDS marathon i'd be like "f*** that." even the cameraman couldn't help drifting up to the top screen to watch mario jump over fireballs (yes, i know he was showing the score, but i like to think he was watching mario).

[caffeine]

Yeah, the first thing I thought after seeing "15 hours" was "poor referee."

[colour_thief]

So they're intentionally keeping the games secret. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif This is all the info I could get:

1) There are 3 distinct versions being played...1 for the main competition,
2nd for the finals, and 3rd for the last and final faceoff

Yes there is a way to drop and lock......not sure I can answer your other
questions!!!

So I'm thinking that:

1st game is probably single player or at least played for score.
2nd and 3rd games are going to have versus.
All games have hard drop.
All games will be for a classic computer (no consoles or windows PCs), so SRS and NES Tetris is out of the question.


Is there a classic PC expert here that wants to take a stab at guessing these?

[jujube]

the 1st competition could be the toughest. if it's an unfamiliar rotation system with no lock delay i could see problems with good players being able to survive as the gravity gets faster.

if you can get past that, i bet the 2nd competition will be much easier. if it's multiplayer then the gravity should be reasonable, at least long enough to allow the better player to win. this is where general tetris knowledge and quick decision making should win against someone who isn't as strong but is more familiar with the version of tetris being played. that is unless there's a secret strategy like making T-spins or 4x4 squares, but i doubt it.

[caffeine]

So you think the games will be on DOS? My bet would then be on Spectrum HoloByte. You can find old school multiplayer Tetris games at Underdogs (http://www.the-underdogs.info/multi.php?id=Puzzle&sort=name).

[colour_thief]

Yeah, I've got all the Spectrum Holobyte ones so I'll fire them up in DOSbox a bit I guess. But it could very well be a C64 or Amiga game or something.

[colour_thief]

So here's a l ist of all the PCs that the museum has set up for use. This is probably a good opportunity to clean up our wiki a bit when it comes to classic PC tetris. Does anyone know which of these PCs had tetris? Does anyone know which of these PCs are a differnet version of the same platform?

Bold = has a tetris game
(I'll edit this as we figure stuff out.)

Apple IIe Apple IIgs Apple Macintosh Color Classic AST Advantage 486 SX/25 Atari 1040 ST Atari 800 Coleco Adam Commodore 128D Commodore 16 Commodore 64 Commodore Amiga 1000 Commodore Amiga 3000 Commodore Amiga 4000 Commodore Amiga 600 Commodore CDTV Commodore PET 2001 Commodore SuperPET Commodore SX-64 Commodore VIC-20 Dynalogic Hyperion 3032 Fortune 32:16 XP Heathkit H89 IBM PC - Model 5150 IBM PCjr IBM PS/1 IBM PS/2 - Model 57 IMSAI 8080 Kaypro II NeXTstation Turbo Color Osborne 1 Philips Micom 2001E Poly 88 Texas Instruments TI 99/4A TRS-80 Color Computer 3 TRS-80 Model 102 TRS-80 Model II TRS-80 Model IV (4) TRS-80 Pocket Computer PC-1 TRS-80 Pocket Computer PC-2 TRS-80 Pocket Computer PC-4 Xerox 820 Yamaha CX5M Music Computer MSX

[tepples]

Wikipedia says:

IBM PCjr, PS/1, and PS/2 run most PC 5150 software. (Not PlayStation.) Tetris 3.12 was designed to run in "text mode" on these machines.

Spectrum HoloByte produced Tetris software under a Mirrorsoft license for at least Atari ST, Amiga, Apple IIe, Apple IIGS, 68K Macintosh, and IBM PC-family computers.

[colour_thief]

So the ante has just been upped! 1st place now gets $1000, and second place gets $500, not to mention all the mystery prizes for the top 8 players.

I'll start digging up classic games tomorrow night to see what might show up...

[caffeine]

I read a couple of news releases, and this is backed by TTC, too. There's supposed to be some cool "Tetris Video Wall." Take pictures. :P

[Meroigo]

Make a documentary.

[Rosti LFC]

Damn c_t, unless Triforce blesses the tournament with his godlike skills, you're pretty set for a nice cash prize on Saturday.

Seriously though, other than DeHackEd (and doesn't Millartime live somewhere around there?) I can't see any of the other contenders winning. Unless the games they use have completely fucked up rotation systems, gameplay and controls I don't think someone else could take it. I seriously doubt there are people who actually play these games regularly today, and I'd maintain that for any Tetris game, a TC player (especially one of the top ones) would beat any casual Tetris player regardless of if they'd played the game before.

I mean, I hardly ever play NES Tetris, and I suck when I do by my own personal standards, but my scores still beat the crap out of all of my friends.

[colour_thief]

It's true that I'm generally stronger than an average player Rosti, but these games could be just about anything. By the very nature of their secrecy, just about anybody has a shot at beating a given opponent. All it takes is for them to be randomly familiar with the game from their youth, or for me to make a misdrop due to an unfamiliar rotation system. Because nobody knows what to expect, it really levels the playing field. I'm half expecting them to reveal Super Mario Bros. 4 as the final game. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif

Apparently someone is flying up from Denver!

[tepples]

It's true that I'm generally stronger than an average player Rosti, but these games could be just about anything.
How likely is it that they're not even Tetris brand?

Because nobody knows what to expect, it really levels the playing field. I'm half expecting them to reveal Super Mario Bros. 4 as the final game. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif
So you've seen The Wizard too. But why would they use Super Mario World in a Tetris tournament? There aren't even any scenes with jumping from one falling block to the next, unlike in Yoshi's Island and Kirby Super Star.

[Phydeaux]

Do I need a passport to go into Canada these days?

I didn't have to back in 02 but I don't know how it is now.

I have a friend that lives in Brantford, so this is totally a two for one trip.

[Phydeaux]

Nevermind, here's my info:

http://gocanada.about.com/od/canadatrav ... border.htm (http://gocanada.about.com/od/canadatraveloverview/qt/uscitizenborder.htm)

[colour_thief]

So I've got a bit more info!

All the games being used were commercially released in the West. This rules out the plentiful homebrew games that exist on classic computers, as well as Japan exclusives. Unfortunately my collection is a little Japan-centric http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif, butthat's not the end of the world.

Most importantly "at least one of the games" is on PC, which strongly implies that they won't all be PC games. Additionally, at least one game was released after the formation of TTC.

So that changes my focus a fair bit! I'll still play a bit of the classic PC games, but I'll be sure to give GB/NES some attention and SRS as well.

[Phydeaux]

There's no way I can drive 12 hours and have a few to rest before it's time to compete. And then drive back. At the tune of $200 for gas. Especially since I was supposed to build some things for the home this weekend that have been plopped on me.

Ugh, I wish I knew about this sooner.

[colour_thief]

Not that it'll change much (12 hours is rough...), but you can crash on my futon couch if your friend can't host you. That is, you can if you can actually fall asleep with a TGM3 machine 3 feet from your head. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

Also technically you can fly into Canada and drive/bus back to the US, all without a passport.

[muf]

Not that it'll change much (12 hours is rough...), but you can crash on my futon couch if your friend can't host you. That is, you can if you can actually fall asleep with a TGM3 machine 3 feet from your head. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif
I could, although that was 8am in the morning, after playing all night http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_redface.gif

[colour_thief]

Apparently someone is flying up from Denver!

Ok, I googled this expecting to find nothing, but it was actually really easy to narrow this down.

There is a Denver Tetris League (http://www.tetrisleague.com/default.htm) that has monthly tournaments.

Probably this guy named Vinnie is flying down.
http://www.iotk.tv/people/vinnie.gif

There's a news story about the league here:
http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_9880952

And videos of some matches on Youtube:
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=cBmeiqoOXag
(more in this user's profile too)

Definitely a solid player. Could be faster, but he's got an edge when it come to classic Nintendo rules Tetris.

[jujube]

what, no grand prize trip to Hawaii?

[colour_thief]

So I'm practicing Tetris Classic by Spectrum Holobyte, which picked up for $10 as part of the Tetris Gold collection but never really played. I'm falling in love with this game! It's missing all the modern refinements that we've come to know and love, but for 1992 this game was as good as Tetris got.

The main single player game has the player clearing 10 lines to level up, like the Nintendo Tetris games. By the time you clear 90 lines, the game is playing at 1G... And this is without lock delay of any kind. Ordinarily that would be instant death, but fortunately this game has fast DAS (the DAS actually gets faster as the level increases, like TAP & Ti). Even with this fast DAS it is damn hard to survive, but I managed to do it anyways. What comes next?

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9692/tetrisclassicglitchbd9.png

The game changes to the next background... which is... the co-op mode background! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif So the screen appears to get extra fat, however the actual playing area remain 10 units wide. The gravity also slows to almost 0G, and further line clears do not appear to change the background.

If this game comes up in the tournament, I think I'll have an advantage because of my well practiced DAS finesse.

[Phydeaux]

Not that it'll change much (12 hours is rough...), but you can crash on my futon couch if your friend can't host you. That is, you can if you can actually fall asleep with a TGM3 machine 3 feet from your head. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

Also technically you can fly into Canada and drive/bus back to the US, all without a passport.
Yeah, I'll just eagerly anticipate the next time they do it and have my passport and some cheaper airline tickets (maybe? hopefully?) at the ready. Thanks for the futon offer just the same, though.

[Meroigo]

CT: Haha, wat? XD So did the developers think "hmm... no one will ever beat level 10, so let's not bother fixing it"? ;D

[colour_thief]

Pretty much. I expect the developers never thought it was possible... Certainly none of the testers were capable of it.

[colour_thief]

Here's another Tetris I broke while playing through old PC versions. It's the Microsoft version from the Microsoft Entertainment Pack. This games oozes the Windows 3.1 look and feel. Basic gameplay is to get 10 lines to increase the level. After level 10 the game stops getting faster. If you're good enough to survive that speed indefinitely, you'll get this after a couple minutes:

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/6460/mstetrisglitchks6.png

Negative scores! It seems the score is a 16 bit signed integer, so after around 32k it jumps down to -32k and starts counting up from there. I didn't play long enough to find out what happens when it reaches 0 again, but it probably isn't that interesting. Maybe jujube knows? I seem to recall he grew up with this version.

It's a strange game overall. There's a slight lock delay. Rotating will drop your DAS charge to 0 and prevent further charging until you press a direction key once again. There is a really long obnoxious ARE during which the next piece is blank, and the active piece is not yet rendered. So you better be aware of the next piece before the active piece locks or you essentially get no previews! And maybe I'm imagining things, but I think the line clear ARE is directly proportional to the number of lines cleared.

[jujube]

Negative scores! It seems the score is a 16 bit signed integer, so after around 32k it jumps down to -32k and starts counting up from there. I didn't play long enough to find out what happens when it reaches 0 again, but it probably isn't that interesting. Maybe jujube knows? I seem to recall he grew up with this version.
i've actually never played that version. about 20 years ago i had a pirated version simply called "tetris", and played it for a few years.

someone here mentioned the existence of the negative score bug, although i'm not sure who it was or whether he or she witnessed it.

*passes the ball to...Rich Nagel?*

[colour_thief]

Negative scores! It seems the score is a 16 bit signed integer, so after around 32k it jumps down to -32k and starts counting up from there. I didn't play long enough to find out what happens when it reaches 0 again, but it probably isn't that interesting. Maybe jujube knows? I seem to recall he grew up with this version.
i've actually never played that version. about 20 years ago i had a pirated version simply called "tetris", and played it for a few years.

someone here mentioned the existence of the negative score bug, although i'm not sure who it was or whether he or she witnessed it.

*passes the ball to...Rich Nagel?*

Weird. Ages ago, someone talked about playing 2 games of tetris at once with this version. I assumed since you were playing Doubles solo that it was you but I must be mistaken.

EDIT:
http://www.tetrisconcept.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14
Found it! The 14th thread here.

[jujube]

Weird. Ages ago, someone talked about playing 2 games of tetris at once with this version. I assumed since you were playing Doubles solo that it was you but I must be mistaken.
the first time i played doubles solo was with T****s Unlimited about 2 years ago, and not long before i joined here. i imagine it's very similar to Microsoft Tetris, with both games having little lock delay.

EDIT:
http://www.tetrisconcept.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14
Found it! The 14th thread here.
"I can play Doubles all alone in TGM2+ up to lvl 200 (both players)." http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif

[colour_thief]

Any moment now DeHackEd and I will be off to the tourney... Wish us luck!

For posterity, I had one day for preparation and I gambled on the secret games being:

First round:
Score attack on a PC version. I practiced Spectrum Holobyte Tetrises and Microsoft Tetris, breaking both as noted above. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

Second/Third rounds:
VS in some sort of classic Nintendo Tetris, and some sort of modern Guideline Tetris. I got 200+ lines a few time in GB Tetris and also played against the CPU in Tetris & Dr. Mario. And I played a lot of TDS and am probably as good as I ever have been at that once again.

We shall soon see how accurate my predictions were! Though I've got most bases covered regardless. Unless we have to do cascading or squares, I've got a pretty solid foundation. Though the "only one chance" nature of the tournament means anything could happen...

[muf]

Position Name              Score
 
1.       Eric Taylor       1295822
2.       Matt Dafoe         439522
3.       Sean Pajot         422954
4.       Michelle Giffin    254182
5.       Thomas Stratford   190800
6.       Claire Stratford   174946
7.       Lukas Newhouse     174490
8.       Steven Arnott      170434

I love how ct's score is almost 3 times as high as the guy below him. Although he should've made it tenfold just to prove a point http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[DumbledorsArmy]

Nice! So do we know if that is the final??

[Meroigo]

DA: CT won.

CONGRATULATIONS COLOUR_THIEF! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

And I'm sure that Dehacked made a good effort too. Congrats to the third place. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

CT: What are you gonna do with a thousand extra dollars? http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

[PetitPrince]

http://pix.nofrag.com/e/a/9/5e56ab49b1bd050956ec3feb830e4.png

GG http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

[caffeine]

What were the games? Was it cool? Elaborate!

[DDRKirby(ISQ)]

YESSSSsssss

this is so satisfying.

[Ai]

Congratulations to the both of you! ^^

[colour_thief]

Thanks guys!

It was really cool! A fantastic atmosphere, dozens of PCs with tons of people playing Tetris on them. The crowd was really into it, and I had a great time. Here's how the mysterious tournament actually worked:

Round 1: Tetris Elements, on a random PC station (20 Minute score attack)
Who would have guessed they'd pick this game? I was waaaaay off with my classic PC Tetris prediction. Though despite preparing for entirely wrong Tetris games, I felt relieved when I saw the 7-bag randomizer and knew I could probably improvise my way into the top 8. For this round, you got to play a single game of Marathon until either you died or 20 minutes elapsed (a judge would stop the game manually). So when muf says I should have gotten 10x the second place guy's score, it wasn't a simple matter of surviving indefinetely. All the top contestants could survive 20 minutes no problem. To beat them you needed to get tetrises, and get them quickly. What made this mode especially challenging were the controls:

Left: Left
Right: Right
Soft Drop: Down
Rotate: Up
Other Rotate: Ctrl
Hard Drop: Spacebar
Hold: Enter

Just try and position your hands to use all that comfortably! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif With so little time to get used to it, DeHackEd and I ignored the Ctrl rotate button completely (well I used it exactly 3 times, extremely carefully, to make t-spins), and we took our hand off the arrow keys to hit Hold (Enter). Far from optimal, but it was a good tradeoff that let us play with relatively few misdrops and most of our speed. The 8 top scorers moved on to the next round.

Round 2: TV Legends Tetris, on a projection screen (Best 2 out of 3 versus)
http://www.radicagames.com/images/playtvlegends/tetris.jpg
This game! Argh!

We'd never played it before either, of course, though I do remember once cringing at a description of it's controls. This, my friends, is misdrop heaven. You have to physically rotate the red squares maybe 10 degrees to rotate the piece, and you have to tilt the same squares to move left, right, and soft drop. If you tilt Down, and you are not applying pressure on the exact centre of the edge of the square, it's extremely easy to accidentally swivel at the same time causing a deadly piece-locking/rotating combo that caused the death of several players. Far less annoying, but also strange, were that the pieces were shown in a different orientation in the preview box than they were when they spawned.

These impractical controls slowed down the gameplay a LOT. Though everyone was playing much slower, so it was still a fair competition. I've got to say that the slower gameplay made this a really great show for the audience. They could definitely follow the action, and as a result were very responsive to clever placements and skillful recoveries. Unfortunately, I was matched against DeHacked in the semifinals and bumped him out of the tournament. But for me at least this was the highlight of the event... I feel my matches with him were the most exciting of the tournament, and the crowd was really into it. I'm very much looking forward to rewatching it when it gets put on youtube.

Another thing I liked about this game was that players got identical piece sequences (pure random randomizer) and identical garbage (frequent repeats). Luckily I did not play until 3 matches in, and was able to notice this before I played. Knowing this, I decided to play defensively until either I received garbage or sent a quick double to my opponent. Either way, this would let me know where I should position my tetris hole, giving me a strong strategic advantage against people who stack for a tetris right away. It worked pretty well, as I scored 4 straight wins on my way to the finals (which would use yet another version of Tetris).

Round 3: Gameboy Tetris, on GB Pockets (Best 4 out of 7 versus)

Yes this game! Such a classic, yet such a game I was hoping wouldn't be chosen. I know tons of people are great at this game, but I'm only passable. I find it difficult to move the pieces quickly with the gimped DAS, and I don't know if I'll ever be very good at d-pad mashing. Why I really didn't want this to come up though, was because I don't think it's tournament quality. I feel that even though skill is needed, a lot of it boils down to luck. Do you get the right pieces? Is the garbage in your favour? The player's just not in control. I had heard that Matt (the second place guy) practiced GB Tetris for 2 hours a day for the last 2 weeks in preparation for the tournament, compared to me having played maybe 2 hours total, the day before. So I was expecting the worse, and resigned to the randomness, knowing that even if I played faster or smarter it might not be enough.

I actually lost the first game and was a little confused. I thought the VS was just standard "top out your opponent" VS, but you can also win by clearing 30(?) lines. I lost the first match by this rule, and after learning it forced myself to play faster. I know it sounds stupid right? Why wasn't I simply playing faster before if I could? Somehow I found more speed, and at the same time played cautiously like a man who is truly afraid of the randomizer. I guess it worked out, because I won 4 of the next 5 games to win the tournament.

------------------

So that's how it went down for me. I had a really great day, and not just because of the $1000 prize (that hasn't sunk in yet). The venue was excellent, the people were great, everyone was having fun, and the organizer Syd is one top dude. I've never seen someone so passionate about the history of computer gaming hardware/software, and his humble PC museum is actually really really awesome. And apparently this might happen again! I look forward to it, and might even have to stop by the museum before then to gets some play on the classic PCs.

As a side note I find it ironic that BPS provided the prize money, and yet none of the games were Guideline compliant. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif And I must say, this experience has really changed my take on speed Tetris. If the upcoming Tetris Cup is to be successful and capture an audience, it's got to be intelligible to average Tetris players somehow. When I was playing Tetris Elements at top speed it was merely an impressive blur. By contrast when the TV Legends Tetris was played, the audience was actually invested in the gameplay and it was more satisfying all around. So all you speed freaks wanting crazy fast no-line-clear-animation VS better give that some thought.

Tons of pictures will follow from me tomorrow. And everything was caught on video so keep checking tetristournament.ca for updates.

And no, I haven't decided what I'll spend the money on yet! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif

[DumbledorsArmy]

Comgrats, congrats, CONGRATS!!!! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gifhttp://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_cool.gifhttp://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gifhttp://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gifhttp://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif That sounded like as awesome time. I keep telling my wife we need to move to Canada. Nothing like that ever happens here!!

Unfortunately, I was matched against DeHacked in the semifinals and bumped him out of the tournament. But for me at least this was the highlight of the tournament... I feel my matches with him were the most exciting of the tournament, and the crowd was really into it. I'm very much looking forward to rewatching it when it gets put on youtube.


That sucks that you two went up against each other in the semi-finals. That would have been awesome if it was you two in the finals. At least he was beat by you and not some random.


Luckily I did not play until 3 matches in, and was able to notice this before I played. Knowing this, I decided to play defensively until either I received garbage or sent a quick double to my opponent. Either way, this would let me know where I should position my tetris hole, giving me a strong strategic advantage against people who stack for a tetris right away. It worked pretty well, as I scored 4 straight wins on my way to the finals (which would use yet another version of Tetris).


I probably would not have thought to study it the way you did. Great strategy!


Tons of pictures will follow from me tomorrow. And everything was caught on video so keep checking tetristournament.ca for updates.

And no, I haven't decided what I'll spend the money on yet! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif

Can't wait to see some pics!! Have fun with your $$$. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif

Oh, and don't forget to make a vid for yourself and parade it around on youtube. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[Spectre256]

Damn, I wish I could have been there for the third one....

I probably would have been beaten on the first two though.

[lee n]

Nice going CT. I would not have been able to adapt so quickly to the weird control methods and obscure tetris games, in fact I'm pretty sure it would've pissed me off a great deal.

But you hung in there and got a well-deserved win.

[caffeine]

And no, I haven't decided what I'll spend the money on yet! :P
Easy, invest in your retirement. :D

Great post and congratulations on winning. If Guinness approves this record, that will mean CT is the winner of the largest Tetris tournament to date.
So all you speed freaks wanting crazy fast no-line-clear-animation VS better give that some thought.
I have, and I still don't like it. Fast is fun and more competitive.

Looking forward to the videos.

[DumbledorsArmy]

Hey color thief, I forgot to ask you: Did you have the assistance of the Power Glove to help guide you to your win?

[colour_thief]

Would you believe that I managed to do it without a powerglove?? </TFGM reference>

Anyhow guys here's the pictures we took...

The Tetris Wall. It changes colours.
[/url]
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9402/dscf0560od3.jpg)

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8618/dscf0561ki6.jpg)

There were many stations that constantly updated with the current top scores.

(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/186/dscf0564tm4.jpg)


Tetris Elements Stations from round 1:
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1043/dscf0567es3.jpg)

(http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/2669/dscf0566lm3.jpg)

PlayTV Legends Tetris versus from round 2:

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9532/img00010xs3.jpg)


GB Tetris versus from the finals (we moved outside to a tent):
(http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/3870/img00012pb0.jpg)


The loot I scored:
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9636/img00013hf6.jpg)


Countless versions of Tetris being played in the museum (can you name them all?):
(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5122/dscf0589vb5.jpg)

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1475/dscf0573yh9.jpg)

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2743/dscf0575mi7.jpg)

(http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/1606/dscf0577ou9.jpg)

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5769/dscf0580yb9.jpg)

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3456/dscf0582eq3.jpg)


Various other stuff around the museum:
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2549/img00009kw6.jpg)

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1738/dscf0584ra8.jpg)


That's all I've got! For the most exciting stuff (the videos) you'll have to keep an eye on [url=http://www.tetristournament.ca/default.htm]http://www.tetristournament.ca (http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7504/img00006kz2.jpg). They've got a huge amount of footage to go through though, so I wouldn't expect much for a week or two.

[DumbledorsArmy]

Would you believe that I managed to do it without a powerglove?? </TFGM reference>

I don't believe you!! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif


The loot I scored:
[/url]


The tables kick ass!! I would love to do an entire bathroom in the Tetris theme. It would freak some people out... http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5325/dscf0586tv5.jpg)



A flask? A FLASK?! Did you really get a flask with your prizes? That's freaking hilairious! And let me tell ya, you got 3 of the best games for the 360 right there. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif You could probrably sell them on ebay for about a buck.

Again congrats dude! If they do this again and there is enough notice you should try to schedule one of your get togethers around it. That would be awesome if a whole group of TC people went!

[jujube]

congrats on winning the tournament ct, and thanks for all the pics.

that's an impressive collection of tetris games they have. i couldn't possibly name all of them. this one in particular confused me a lot:
[/url]
it looks like the lines aren't clearing, and there's some kind of green blob suspended above the stack.

[url=http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3456/dscf0582eq3.jpg] (http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1475/dscf0573yh9.jpg)
and this one looks really primitive. i'd love to play an ancient version like that.

[lee n]

and this one looks really primitive. i'd love to play an ancient version like that.
It's played on a Commodore SX-64 which is cool. It's a portable C-64.

Can't tell what game it is though.

[colour_thief]

this one in particular confused me a lot:

it looks like the lines aren't clearing, and there's some kind of green blob suspended above the stack.


Yeah I'm really curious about that now. Maybe there was a background change and the game was too buggy to handle it properly? Green seems to cover most of the empty space in the stack, except where pieces have been moving.

[K]

congrats ! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

[lee n]

I would love to do an entire bathroom in the Tetris theme. It would freak some people out... http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

http://www.tetris-tiles.com/ (http://www.tetris-tiles.com/default.htm)

[Pineapple]

So is anyone here crazy enough to tile a room with ARS colours? CT, perhaps?

[muf]

So is anyone here crazy enough to tile a room with ARS colours? CT, perhaps?
That was actually the first thing I thought about when I saw that http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif

[Ezzelin]

Hey, here's a shot posted on mtbs3d.com from the Gameboy Tetris round:

http://mtbs3d.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_4268.JPG (http://mtbs3d.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/IMG_4268.JPG)

Looks like a lot of fun! I'd love to meet up with more people and play Tetris competitively like this. Anyone else live in the Seattle area?

By the way, CT, did you see any of the Stereo 3d stuff that was set up? Strangely enough, I also follow the Stereo 3d community and post on mtbs3d.com sometimes, so this is very odd that two of the niche forums that I frequent happened to have something in common.

[Zaphod77]

The version of tetris on the sx-64 is the c64 spectrum holobyte tetris.

it is one of the worst versions evar. no twists at ALL!

However, it has AMAZING music. REALLY amazing non-guideline music.

[muf]

Hey, here's a shot posted on mtbs3d.com from the Gameboy Tetris round:

http://mtbs3d.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_4268.JPG (http://mtbs3d.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/IMG_4268.JPG)

lol, ct looks like he's falling asleep there http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif

[DeHackEd]

I tried it out. The screen must be crazy polarized. You have to wear glasses to get the effect. I played a bit of Unreal on it. It's definitely cool, but I'm not sure how much it's worth paying for.

I also tried the full headset. That didn't work for me at all, but I also didn't do any adjustment either. I think it would have been better had I taken the effort. I'll say this though: while wearing the headset, I found myself actually trying to tilt my head to look around. They're going to need to put motion sensors into that thing.


Lastly, the virtual boy sucked. The tetris game was just a 2d game against a warp-speed-through-space screen saver. The sound was terrible, the randomizer was unpolite, and I developed a minor but noticeable headache in a matter of seconds. No wonder it flopped. Yes, they had a virtual boy.

[tepples]

I also tried the full headset. That didn't work for me at all, but I also didn't do any adjustment either. I think it would have been better had I taken the effort. I'll say this though: while wearing the headset, I found myself actually trying to tilt my head to look around. They're going to need to put motion sensors into that thing.
I guess that's why Nintendo On, the rumored wireless stereo display for Wii, includes a motion sensor.

Lastly, the virtual boy sucked. The tetris game was just a 2d game against a warp-speed-through-space screen saver. The sound was terrible, the randomizer was unpolite, and I developed a minor but noticeable headache in a matter of seconds. No wonder it flopped. Yes, they had a virtual boy.
So you played the Japanese Tetris, not the North American Blockout clone "3D Tetris".

[colour_thief]

By the way, CT, did you see any of the Stereo 3d stuff that was set up? Strangely enough, I also follow the Stereo 3d community and post on mtbs3d.com sometimes, so this is very odd that two of the niche forums that I frequent happened to have something in common.

At first I thought it was just people playing games on a high end PC, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Towards the end I realised it was actually some cool prototype tech, and I gave it a try. I think the site you linked mentions 2 setups, but I was so late I only experienced the last one they took down. It was the fancy LCD screen requiring polarized glasses. It was really cool and, after I positioned myself properly, there was definitely a strong sense of depth. However, it wasn't perfect and some parts of the image appeared fuzzier because of the overlapping images. So it seemed like a tradeoff where you gain depth at the cost of clarity of form and colour.

I'm more excited about the development of OLED screens. I saw Sony's 1080p OLED screen a few weeks back, and it was amazing. All of their other TVs were crap, to be quite honest. Obcenely large LCD HDTVs which look stunning displaying still pictures, but then the slightest movement and then all the fine detail is lost. Not to mention decent but unsatisfying contrast. The OLED however was amazing, without any after image , and therefore retaining full image quality during motion. I swear these things have clearer motion than CRTs! These will be the gaming screens of the future, mark my words. Aside from having a fixed resolution, they are better in every way to CRTs and everything else out there. Except apparently they don't last long yet..... But they look fantastic while they do!

[Keatsta]

I got eighth, which I was pretty happy with. I might have done better in the playoff things if I could have gotten a handle on the controller, but I doubt I would have made it to the finals or anything.

[Rosti LFC]

I got eighth, which I was pretty happy with. I might have done better in the playoff things if I could have gotten a handle on the controller, but I doubt I would have made it to the finals or anything.

I'd assume you're the Keatsta that myself and Phydeaux know?

[Keatsta]

I'd assume you're the Keatsta that myself and Phydeaux know?
Yeah, I wasn't sure if this was the site Fido's always shilling. I should have joined awhile ago. You guys need more Tetris Attack stuff though.

[colour_thief]

Oh hey, you joined. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
Yeah Tetris Attack is awesome... Here's something I did in it recently:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Oot7Rc-VZrc
We should totally hang out sometime, I'd love to play with someone who can chain beyond x2 and x3. And if we got bored, we could play this:
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3359/arcadesetupnu4.jpg

[Rosti LFC]

In usual TC style, I'll detract from the OMG TGM3 ARCADE MACHINE!!!1! to say that I have that Sony HDD/DVD recorder in my house as well. Nice piece of kit http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

[Keatsta]

Oh man, that's a pretty sweet Tetris Attack combo. I need to at least try to get that set up once.

Even though Rosti resisted, I have to say: that is a pretty awesome machine. I've never played Tetris on an arcade machine, though, and hadn't played it using a joystick-type thing before the tournament. I wouldn't have all too much confidence =\

[DDRKirby(ISQ)]

Oh man, that's a pretty sweet Tetris Attack combo. I need to at least try to get that set up once.


it's really hard. More importantly it's quite ingenious, but it's also really hard.

[Rosti LFC]

I've never played Tetris on an arcade machine, though, and hadn't played it using a joystick-type thing before the tournament. I wouldn't have all too much confidence =\

It's a bit tricky to start with, but you can get the hand of a joystick quite quickly. Especially when the controls to rotate are separate buttons and not part of the joystick controls like they were in that tournament.
And TGM3 is probably the greatest version of Tetris ever made, for single-player modes at least.

[rednefed]

Agreed, need moar easy mode (and versus) videos.

[Phydeaux]

I've never played Tetris on an arcade machine, though, and hadn't played it using a joystick-type thing before the tournament. I wouldn't have all too much confidence =\

It's a bit tricky to start with, but you can get the hand of a joystick quite quickly. Especially when the controls to rotate are separate buttons and not part of the joystick controls like they were in that tournament.
And TGM3 is probably the greatest version of Tetris ever made, for single-player modes at least.

And this is going to sound really, really pathetic, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Expect your arm to get tired if you're used to playing Tetris with the d-pad or a keyboard and move to an arcade stick.

Fatigue sets in on me when playing Splash to where I'll lose because I missed drop one piece over because my wrist didn't feel like going the distance.

[muf]

Can't say I've felt tired the first days of having my stick, and I pulled an all-nighter the first day and played all day the next day as well.

[Rosti LFC]

I'd agree with Phydeaux. If I'd been playing Sudden Ti or something reasonably fast for an hour or so I'd start getting cramp in my wrist or in my forearm.

[lee n]

Expect your arm to get tired if you're used to playing Tetris with the d-pad or a keyboard and move to an arcade stick.
For me it was the exact opposite, I frequently had my hands get tired from prolonged sessions back when I was playing on my keyboard, but now when I play with my arcade stick I seem to be able to play hours on end without tiring.

[Phydeaux]

And if we got bored, we could play this:
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3359/arcadesetupnu4.jpg
Could we not post tetripornography in threads not labeled as such? Thanks. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif

KEAT. YOU MUST LIVE NEAR PAK GO HARASS HER GO GO GO GO

[muf]

This thread is now a "flash your Ti" thread. My setup isn't as good looking as colour_thief's, but here goes:

[Rosti LFC]

It's a lot messier and not a proper cab, but the screen itself looks a lot better IMO http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[colour_thief]

CRTs frequently look crappy in photos... I assure you mine looks fine in person.

[Meroigo]

And I guess it's one of those nice higher quality arcade cabinet CRTs too? :> I prefer CRT over TFT. Display lag and sucky colours (especially "black") on TFT is annoying. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif But it will be awesome when TFT is replaced by SED (that new technology with the good things from CRT stuffed into a flat screen TV) or something similar. ^^

[lee n]

CRTs frequently look crappy in photos... I assure you mine looks fine in person.
It's the flash that's doing it in your picture. All that light is dulling out the screen. It's like aiming a really powerful flashlight directly at the screen, you wouldn't see much then either.

[kotetsu213]

I can't wait to play Duke Nukem Forever on my new SED display.

Hey, wait a minute, SED isn't multi-sync... but laser TV is!

I'm waiting, Mitsubishi.

[Keatsta]

KEAT. YOU MUST LIVE NEAR PAK GO HARASS HER GO GO GO GO
she's like an hour away from me but like i think there's laws and stuff about this.

angelbacon lives 15 minutes or so away from me and i keep thinking i see him at the movies.

[Phydeaux]

KEAT. YOU MUST LIVE NEAR PAK GO HARASS HER GO GO GO GO
she's like an hour away from me but like i think there's laws and stuff about this.

She's, like, 18 now.

What, that's not what you meant?

angelbacon lives 15 minutes or so away from me and i keep thinking i see him at the movies.
http://gtfoutsider.com/forums/Smileys/default/heyguys.gifhttp://gtfoutsider.com/forums/Smileys/default/andrewdecease2.gif

[colour_thief]

http://www.tetristournament.ca/photos.html

An update! http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif There's some new photos of the event on the website now, many far better shots than DeHackEd and I took. Here's hoping the videos aren't far behind. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

[DeHackEd]

many far better shots than DeHackEd and I took. Here's hoping the videos aren't far behind. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
Considering I took mine using a crappy cell phone camera with crappier photo sensor, that's not a hard thing to do. And yes, please bring us movies!

[colour_thief]

http://www.tetristournament.ca/ (http://www.tetristournament.ca/default.htm)

Another update! This time there's some movies. No full matches yet, but there's the amazingly pun-filled opening ceremonies (that I'm sorry I missed now) and a 4 minute overview of the video that capture a lot of the feeling of the event.

[muf]

It's a lot messier and not a proper cab, but the screen itself looks a lot better IMO http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
I've since tidied things up:
[/url][url=http://mufunyo.net/tetris/DSC03857.JPG] (http://mufunyo.net/tetris/DSC03855.JPG)

[Rosti LFC]

I approve of your "shove it to the side of the room and put cushions on it" method of tidying up http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif